I've had my progress rear sway on for 2 years so far. I changed out the endlinks and the bushings this past weekend. I took some pictures so you can see how well the bar holds up. This is all off of my 2008 LX. Things may be slightly different on the 9th gens, but since the bar fits all the cars this should be very very similar.
I have an R18 so there is extender hardware for the bushings in the pics. I upgraded the frame mounting points on the car to the ones from an Si so I could just bolt the bushing straight to the frame. Also I live in the Northeast with tons of salt so this should help you to understand the amount of rust you can expect. If you live anywhere else I think you would have much much less.
I also failed to grease it last year. (naughtynaughty) It was just starting to make noise but you can see in the pics there is no grease left and quite a bit of dirt.
Under the car:
Stock brackets and bushings
R18 extender hardware:
Stock endlinks: No issues after 2+ years. You are fine to use them or the heavy duty MOOG ones. You can also see the edge of the reinforcement bracket on the lower arm where the link bolts up.
Reinforcement plate: Progress includes these with their sway bar. You can buy them separately if you go a different route. (Eibach, Whiteline,....)
The whole thing off:
A shot from the back of one bracket:
You can see how short the LX/EX frame bracket is. That third bolt at the top is a plate progress sends to lengthen the mounting point for the bushing to attach to. This may or may not be the same on the 9th gen between the R18 and Si.
(EDIT AND UPDATE: THE FRAME BRACKET MOUNTING POINTS ON THE 9TH GEN ARE THE SAME PART NUMBER FOR SI AND NON-SI. NO NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING OR RUN EXTENDER HARDWARE. YOU GUYS ARE ALL SET!)
The stock bushings:
The bar: The bushing was starting to eat into the bar a little. My own damn fault for not greasing it last year like I was supposed to. I had done it twice before, spring and fall, so it's about 18months since the last time.
Right side
Left side
And cleaned up so you can see the "damage" a little better. Some of it is lack of maintenance and some is normal wear. Also the conditions here are heinous in the winter. The coating/powder on the bar holds up very very well. It is thick.
This is on the bottom of the bar so any water/salt/dirt that got into the bushing would have accumulated here. This appears to be very minor surface wear. I am not concerned about it one bit. A more regular grease/maintenance schedule would probably have prevented this almost completely.
Let me know if anyone has questions. You should have no issues with your progress bar holding up and lasting a long time. Same with the stock endlinks. I only upgraded to the moogs cause I was going to take everything off and I knew I would be cutting the stock ones off. They were so rusty I didn't want to mess with them again.
Also.... I have upgraded to the energy suspension greaseable sway bar bushings. They have a ZERK fitting. They are really really cheap. I don't know if they fit on the 9th gen but since everything else bolts right up, if someone buys these let us know if they fit/clear everything. I got mine for $20-ish from Amazon.
If anyone purchases this part and confirms fitment post up here and let us know.
Part# 9.5158 for 22mm sway bar. Red or Black - its just the durometer of the bushing. There is not much difference.
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9.5158
I have an R18 so there is extender hardware for the bushings in the pics. I upgraded the frame mounting points on the car to the ones from an Si so I could just bolt the bushing straight to the frame. Also I live in the Northeast with tons of salt so this should help you to understand the amount of rust you can expect. If you live anywhere else I think you would have much much less.
I also failed to grease it last year. (naughtynaughty) It was just starting to make noise but you can see in the pics there is no grease left and quite a bit of dirt.
Under the car:
Stock brackets and bushings
R18 extender hardware:
Stock endlinks: No issues after 2+ years. You are fine to use them or the heavy duty MOOG ones. You can also see the edge of the reinforcement bracket on the lower arm where the link bolts up.
Reinforcement plate: Progress includes these with their sway bar. You can buy them separately if you go a different route. (Eibach, Whiteline,....)
The whole thing off:
A shot from the back of one bracket:
You can see how short the LX/EX frame bracket is. That third bolt at the top is a plate progress sends to lengthen the mounting point for the bushing to attach to. This may or may not be the same on the 9th gen between the R18 and Si.
(EDIT AND UPDATE: THE FRAME BRACKET MOUNTING POINTS ON THE 9TH GEN ARE THE SAME PART NUMBER FOR SI AND NON-SI. NO NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING OR RUN EXTENDER HARDWARE. YOU GUYS ARE ALL SET!)
The stock bushings:
The bar: The bushing was starting to eat into the bar a little. My own damn fault for not greasing it last year like I was supposed to. I had done it twice before, spring and fall, so it's about 18months since the last time.
Right side
Left side
And cleaned up so you can see the "damage" a little better. Some of it is lack of maintenance and some is normal wear. Also the conditions here are heinous in the winter. The coating/powder on the bar holds up very very well. It is thick.
This is on the bottom of the bar so any water/salt/dirt that got into the bushing would have accumulated here. This appears to be very minor surface wear. I am not concerned about it one bit. A more regular grease/maintenance schedule would probably have prevented this almost completely.
Let me know if anyone has questions. You should have no issues with your progress bar holding up and lasting a long time. Same with the stock endlinks. I only upgraded to the moogs cause I was going to take everything off and I knew I would be cutting the stock ones off. They were so rusty I didn't want to mess with them again.
Also.... I have upgraded to the energy suspension greaseable sway bar bushings. They have a ZERK fitting. They are really really cheap. I don't know if they fit on the 9th gen but since everything else bolts right up, if someone buys these let us know if they fit/clear everything. I got mine for $20-ish from Amazon.
If anyone purchases this part and confirms fitment post up here and let us know.
Part# 9.5158 for 22mm sway bar. Red or Black - its just the durometer of the bushing. There is not much difference.
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9.5158
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I really enjoy my Progress RSB. When it comes time to get my car ready for winter I'll have to make sure to check the bushings and possibly upgrade to the greasable bushings.
. Really good job. Thanks.
